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Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Motivate Yourself to Write

I've been waffling a lot lately about procrastination and losing/gaining the writing mojo. So I've decided; no more moaning from me - I am going to be positive! The bottom line is I want to fit writing into my day, so I will fit writing into my day.

Here's some tips I've put together to help you (and me!) to motivate ourselves to write. Some of these ideas should help with other things you may have been putting off too.

Whatever your writing goal is, make a public declaration. If you announce it to your friends, family or work colleagues, you will be much more likely to achieve it. You'll know that others are watching, or waiting for your updates, so it'll be a lot harder to wriggle out of it.

Instead of saying 'I'll try to fit some writing in today', you should be saying 'I am going to write this morning/after lunch/after tea/at work when I'm supposed to be doing other things,' (delete as applicable!). And then stick to it!

If your goal is a bit overwhelming, or if you haven't got as much time as you'd like, break the workload down into small achievable chunks. Ten minutes writing every day is better than nothing. As you move forward with your project, hopefully the momentum will build and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. What did that Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tzu, say? 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.' He was right, you know.

If you're really stuck for time, ten minutes brainstorming your plot on the way to work is better than nothing.

Reading is a great way to motivate yourself to write. Great books teach you about style and prose without you even realising. Books are also great sources of inspiration, and you may find you have to put that read down to carry on writing your own story.

Make a deal with yourself that once you've achieved a certain milestone, there will be a reward waiting. It could be a a meal out, a massage, a movie or a trip to the shops; whatever it is that floats your boat. Plan it in advance and let it motivate you to finish that chapter, section, or whatever!

So, in the spirit of practising what I preach, here's my declaration: I am going to do something to move forward with my WIP every day - Monday to Friday, and possibly the weekend as well. I'm not going to worry about the actual word count, all I'm aiming for is MOVING FORWARD.

9 comments:

I declare that I will fly through editing my novel as soon as I'm done reading my friend's! Any time you need motivation just hop on Twitter and use the #writing or #WritersRoad hashtag and I'll be happy to cheer you on!

Ireally liked this part of the article. with a nice and interesting topics have helped a lot of people who do not challenge things people should know.. you need more publicize this so many people who know about it are rare for people to know this... success for you.......!

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Hi, I'm glad you stopped by! I'm the author of SOUL PROTECTOR and THE BETRAYAL, two books from a paranormal romance series. When I'm not writing I drink too many lattes from my Dulce Gusto machine, eat too much chocolate, but quaff just the right amount of red wine :D